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2009 Annual Report
Beyond Intuition - Planning For Transformation
Whenever there is need for change within an organization, several choices of action are available. One would be to react in panic and revert to past practice. Another would be to jump headfirst into the new situation and build upon the weak foundation of the old structure. However, the best practice for instituting lasting change is assessing, evaluating and careful planning for the organization's future. This process also includes preserving best practices and enhancing core programs that provide value to members.
With the number of significant changes experienced by CLA in this past year the best choice was to hold, assess, evaluate, and manage - sometimes one day at a time. Consider the major changes to our organization in the last 12 months: a supporting membership vote to change the bylaws and governance structure of the organization; the departure of our Executive Director; searching for, hiring and orienting an interim Executive Director; the loss of 1.75 of the 2 remaining office staff; the completion and resultant ramifications of a first ever business assessment report; the sale of the downtown building and moving of the CLA offices; two full recruitments for a permanent Executive Director; a RFP process to select an association management company; and a nationwide economic recession. All of these changes had a significant impact our organization's short-term fiscal health.
Yes, this year has been a very tough one for the organization. Yet what an amazing opportunity these challenges have provided for CLA to become stronger. The old adage, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" can certainly be applied to all of us in CLA this year. Yet we have not only maintained the services members expect from CLA, we've actually launched some new ones. This report summarizes the advocacy, educational and innovative activities that have filled the CLA community this past year on behalf of our members. Here are highlights from the report:
- Continued and coordinated the statewide summer reading program and, "Spring Fling" workshops sponsored by CLA Interest Groups; and received a grant invitation from the prestigious David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
- Continued a strong legislative presence at the state and local levels that included retaining current levels of the PLF and TBR while assertively lobbying for ARRA stimulus dollars for broadband connectivity.
- Completed a Transition Tool Kit to help members better understand the new CLA governance structure
- Debuted the monthly electronic newsletter "California Libraries", published two editions of the CLA magazine "Clarion", and established our presence on two social networks, Facebook and Twitter.
- Joined the Urban Libraries Council as an institutional member providing CLA with access to critical forecasting and research information.
- 2009 Annual Report (914k)
All of this activity happened simultaneously with the completion of a thorough business assessment of CLA. This assessment gave your leadership guidance for growing our organization in the best way possible.
And the reason CLA could withstand all the change and still operate and produce is a direct result of YOU, the members. You kept volunteering, working, and supporting your leadership. And all of us have been supported by our Interim Executive Director, Claudia Foutz, our new Membership, Marketing and Communications Manager, Richard Berta, and the continuing assistance of Laura Fisher our prior long time Administrative Director. As President this team provided me and the Board with the performance, information and advice we needed to advance through this year of challenges.
I believe that with the information we now possess about our finances and organizational structural needs, we are perfectly poised to enter into the next phase of CLA's growth-planning for a strong future. The next couple of years will entail a strategic planning process that will "Reach Out!" to all our members, other library organizations, and incorporate some of the best practices from other state library associations.
I am proud of the way we embraced major change and chose to reassess our association in the strongest possible light. CLA is now prepared for a transformation into an organization that will be exciting, relevant and flexible. We will be an organization whose decisions are based on knowledge, data and our rich history.
I can't think of a more exciting time to have had both the honor and humbling experience of being your President.
Barbara Roberts
2009 CLA President
Posted on October 12, 2009 10:55 AM | Permalink